Industry advocates laud Legislature`s repeal of mining moratorium

Industry is celebrating the Legislature’s repeal of a decades-old mining moratorium on sulfide mining, while environmental groups fear the move will mean contamination of Wisconsin’s water resources.

The moratorium required companies that wanted to mine sulfide ores such as copper and gold to prove other mines operated and were closed for 10 years without causing pollution. Lucas Vebber with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce said the Legislature is opening the door to a billion dollar industry.

"We are hopeful that we’ll get a good look from some of these companies who are bringing that investment right now to our neighboring states," Vebber said....

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Ken Notes: I am still not a fan. Using sulfides to extract minerals leaves a mess period. If we do see mines we need in place plans for disposal of chemicals and tailings, future site reclamation, a tax structure to deal with the impact on roads and infrastructure, an emergency response plan for dealing with site contamination, and a plan to keep some ot the profits in Wisconsin. NONE of these are in place now...